AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Acquired by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 71.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 497,830 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 208,292 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in AT&T were worth $14,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 642,859,644 shares of the technology company's stock worth $14,637,914,000 after purchasing an additional 6,220,442 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 163,761,301 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,719,723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640,644 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,203,667,000 after purchasing an additional 26,280,866 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,858,418,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of AT&T by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,779,438,000 after purchasing an additional 10,945,679 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $31.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.17.

AT&T Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:T traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $26.92. 27,403,482 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,405,886. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $193.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.42. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $27.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.47. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.14 and a twelve month high of $29.19.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 9.64%. The firm had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.12%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.10%.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications and technology services. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers wireless, wireline telecom, and broadband services to businesses and consumers located in the US and businesses globally.